Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: THURSDAY, January 21, 1993 TAG: 9301210366
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JULIA MALONE COX NEWS SERVICE
DATELINE: WASHINGTON LENGTH: Long
THE DAY AFTER: GETTING DOWN TO BRASS TACKS
And now comes the hard part.With the strains of the rock lyric "Don't stop thinking about tomorrow" still echoing from four days of celebrity-packed festivities, the 42nd president of the United States is waking up today to face grave crises abroad that threaten to crowd out simmering problems at home.
As a candidate, Bill Clinton promised to focus "like a laser beam" on the nation's economy. As commander in chief, he takes over at a time when U.S. warplanes are dropping bombs on Iraq and American troops are braving sniper fire to bring food to starving people in Somalia.
Opponents once challenged Clinton's ability to send Americans into harm's way, since he had avoided military service in Vietnam. Now he becomes the first president since the Vietnam War era to inherit a military confrontation.
With relatively little foreign policy experience, he must turn his talent for being a fast learner to setting the nation's course in what has become an unsteady post-Cold War world.
For weeks he stood staunchly behind President Bush's policies. He must now make his own - starting with Iraq, where President Saddam Hussein will be certain to test his new American antagonist. Moreover, Clinton arrives just as the alliance that Bush crafted against Saddam is showing fissures.
The new president must find a way to complete the U.S. humanitarian mission in Somalia. At the same time, he must deal with growing demands to rescue civilians in the former Yugoslavia from the horrors of civil war.
And lurking just behind those concerns are problems such as keeping Russia from exploding as its economy teeters on the brink of ruin and restoring democracy to Haiti to prevent a new refugee influx to Florida.
The urgency of international affairs could, at least, buy Clinton extra time as he prepares to tackle the other major challenge of his new presidency: fulfilling dozens of very specific promises he made to the American people.
"Campaign promises and running a government are two relatively unrelated topics," said Eddie Mahe, a Republican strategist.
Even so, Clinton will attempt to deliver on a handful of promises by quickly ending the so-called "gag rule" that bans abortion counseling at family planning clinics and canceling some of the special privileges of federal office holders.
But the big promises will be much tougher to fulfill, partly because they often contradict each other.
He has vowed to "rebuild America" by spending $20 billion a year on transportation and other public works, to allow every student to repay the cost of college by working in a national service job, and boost spending for education and child welfare.
Yet in his book "Putting People First," he said he would not raise income taxes for anyone but the rich - those with incomes of $200,000 or more. And he promised to chop the federal deficit in half in four years.
Recently, as the White House forecast higher budget deficits throughout his term, Clinton backed away from cutting them by 50 percent. He has also warned he might not deliver the middle-class tax break he proposed during the campaign.
Clinton will have dozens of similar balancing acts to perform. With a broad coalition that is defined more by a desire for change than by any unifying philosophy, he may require all of Solomon's wisdom to lead his administration.
Perhaps most difficult of all, he has promised to provide a comprehensive answer to one of the most complex and contentious problems in the nation today - soaring health costs.
Despite the magnitude of the challenges, the new president will have a Congress that is controlled by his own party and anxious to make his presidency succeed. And he comes on a wave of rising public good will.
Although he won office with less than an absolute majority, Clinton now has the good will of more than 80 percent of the public, a bipartisan poll showed shortly before the inauguration.
"Voters have a strong positive feelings about the Clinton-Gore team," according to Celinda Lake, a Democratic pollster who helped conduct the survey. The public, she said, "desperately" wants the new administration to "succeed in doing something about the serious problems the country faces."
\ Challenges facing Clinton\ \ FOREIGN:
A continuing military confrontation with Iraq.
U.S. troops under fire as they bring famine relief to Somalia.
Pressures to take military action against "ethnic cleansing" atrocities in what used to be Yugoslavia.
Thousands of Haitians who want to sail to the United States to flee oppression and poverty.
Economic and political crises throughout what used to be the Soviet Union.
Struggling democracies and economies in the rest of what used to be the Soviet bloc.\ \ DOMESTIC:
A federal deficit threatening to hit a half-trillion dollars before the end of the century.
His own promises to cut the deficit while boosting the economy in the short term and investing in long-term economic growth.
A federal bureaucracy that wastes billions of dollars annually because of poor management and poorly designed policies.
Health-care costs that are taking a steadily larger share of national income while tens of millions of Americans lack insurance.
A welfare system that discourages work, does not hold families together and has left record rates of childhood poverty, abuse and neglect.
Planned military budget cuts that can strike serious economic blows in some communities and will throw thousands of uniformed and civilian military personnel out of work.\ \ Cox News Service